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Discord vs Guilded – Which Should You Use?

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In May of 2015, Discord was released and quickly replaced apps like Line or TeamSpeak for many gamers. The server structure, dark screen, and customization were just the beginning. As bots became more prevalent, Discord morphed into a tool not only for gamers but for streaming communities, businesses, and friend groups. 

Recently, however, many gamers and content creators have come forth with concerns about Discord’s practices and their alleged purchase by Microsoft. A few of these commenters have stated that they planned to switch to Guilded. I have never heard of Guilded up to this point, but was curious as to what people could imagine was better than Discord, so I had a look. 

This post will compare the two communication apps to help you decide which would be best for you.

Discord and Guilded Comparisons

To fully understand what the debate is about, we will compare both platforms for several different features. 

  • Which App is More Popular?

    Without a doubt, Discord is currently the most popular app between the two. It is globally used by 140 million people. Many communities have been built using Discord and there is nostalgic history in-built into gamers who were able to easily communicate and create alliance servers with it. While Guilded offers the same features, it was released later on and is still considered by many to be an “off-brand” Discord.

  • wallet

    How Much Do The Apps Cost?

    Both apps are free to use. While you can upgrade to Discord Nitro, you can use the important features for free. 

  • chat

    Which Has Better Voice Chat?

    Guilded has superior voice chat (and capabilities) to Discord. Users on Discord have audio bitrates of up to 96kbps (kilobytes per second), whereas Guilded users can enjoy up to 256kbps. Not only is the quality better, but Guilded users can also whisper to a specific person in chat by pressing a hotkey, making it so that only that other person can hear them. This has streamlined many events for gamers. Both offer several other features, such as priority speaking. 

  • laptop

    Which Has Better Free Streaming?

    Again, Guilded beats Discord in this metric, allowing their users to stream at 1080p at 60fps. Discord users start at 720p at 30fps. Both have fairly low latency. 

What Does Guilded Have that Discord Doesn’t?

Apart from the above, there are several other things that Guilded offers in its base program that Discord doesn’t. These features include the following:

10 Channel Types

guilded channel types

Discord allows both voice and text channels, but Guilded offers 10 different types of channels that can be grouped into different categories. Within those channel types, you can create additional sub-categories, such as threads or polls. The 10 channel times that Guilded offers are as follows:

  1. 1. Chat

    This is the text chat that allows users to type messages to each other, create threads, host polls, or create forms that other users can fill out. You can assign the necessary roles in order to participate in the extra features.

  2. 2. Streaming

    You can stream either from your camera or from your screen. You can also video chat with your friends or community through simultaneous streaming.

  3. 3. Voice

    Not only can you have a full chat room, but you can create nests within the chat room to allow people to chat together for a period. You also have the opportunity to privately “whisper” to another user even while remaining in chat. 

  4. 4. Calendar

    While you can use bots to create a calendar in Discord, it is inbuilt into Guilded. You can easily schedule events that your teammates can join. Streamers can label what their streams will be about and gauge how excited their audience is about their upcoming content. You will also be able to see upcoming events on the server’s overview section (more on that later). 

  5. 5. Scheduling

    Whether you need to schedule an upcoming meeting or organize your guild into raiding groups, you can use the scheduling tool to find out when people are typically available.

  6. 6. Announcements

    You can create announcements for your server’s members to see, but you also have the option to make the announcement public. Announcements will also show up on the server’s overview section 

  7. 7. Forums

    Create several topics for your members to discuss while keeping the rest of your server tidy. You can also pin the most important topics toward the top of the forum so that they are easily seen by new members. 

  8. 8. List

    This channel is perfect for organized groups who want to ensure that everything is in place before a big event. You can also use threads here to keep everything organized and in context. You are also able to mark things complete as you finish them. 

  9. 9. Docs

    Do you have a list of guild rules or have you spent time figuring out the most efficient ways of mining valuable resources in-game? You can create documents that easily help your members learn better strategies for gaming. 

  10. 10. Media

    Upload your favorite videos or images. This channel is perfect for streamers who want to make visual compilations of their clips and branding. 

Server Applications 

You can create an application that people who want to join your server must fill out before joining. This saves a step of having them message an admin or creating a Discord channel where some people may neglect to answer important questions. 

Server Overview 

guilded server overview upcoming events

Each server comes with a Server Overview page that is a great place for members to quickly check in to see what events are coming up or if there have been any recent announcements. Users can quickly interact with the events to make things more efficient both for them and for the admins running the server. 

There is also an “About” section that will allow you to quickly explain what your server is about as well as post your other social accounts. This section is perfect for streaming communities where the streamer wants to grow over several platforms. 

Groups Within Servers

guilded streamscheme server

You can also create groups within your servers that certain members will be able to access. Have a group of your guild who also like to play a different game together? Create a game-centric group for them that they can fill will memes, screenshots, and their own lists without disturbing members in the main server. 

Streamers can also make groups for their VIPs, other streamers, or their Tier 3 subscribers to give them extra access to special content. 

Personal Profiles

guilded personal profile - luci

On Guilded, you come with a personal profile that you can customize. Add your games (and aliases), frequently upload content, write out an about you section, and add your social media. This is perfect for streamers who want to network with others without being too overly promotional or pushy. 

Server Subscriptions

You have the option to monetize certain aspects of your server. You can create custom rewards for people who sign up for the subscriptions and earn passive income over time – all through running your own Guilded server.

Is Discord or Guilded Better for Twitch Servers?

In the long term, Guilded is a better option for Twitch streamers who are wanting to build a community. However, smaller streamers may find it more difficult to convert their viewers to Guilded when they are just starting out as Discord already has such a large viewer base. If you have a relatively loyal and active community, however, making the switch could make things more rewarding in the long run. 

Is Discord or Guilded Better for Game Servers?

Guilded offers a lot of features that Discord doesn’t when it comes to games. Using Guilded for your alliance, your esports team, or just your group of friends will offer you far more customization upfront. 

How to Convert Your Discord Community to Guilded

It is likely that you will lose a few members when you make the switch. When announcing the switch explain why you are asking people to download a “different Discord” and explain its value to them. Tell people that you will keep the Discord server in tandem with the other one for a couple of weeks (give them a date) and have people migrate. As new users join and see the benefits, they can help encourage other community members to join as well. 

You are also able to import a Discord server template to Guilded or to auto-share a few of the Guilded features to Discord to make the transition easier. 

About the Author

Luci

Luci is a novelist, freelance writer, and active blogger. A journalist at heart, she loves nothing more than interviewing the outliers of the gaming community who are blazing a trail with entertaining original content. When she’s not penning an article, coffee in hand, she can be found gearing her shieldmaiden or playing with her son at the beach.

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